


Sickly Sweet

by Destructionofsanctum (Momoisme)



Series: In Another Life [2]
Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: AU, Elayn gets poisoned, F/F, Femslash February, Serana takes care of her, here there be goblins, it's fluffy I think, tw: warlock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-27 17:01:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17770733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Momoisme/pseuds/Destructionofsanctum
Summary: It was all that damned warlock's fault





	1. Chapter 1

Leaving the castle had been more of an adjustment for Elayn than she would have liked. Those months in Harkon's grasp haunted her dreams like a fever, leaving her to wake from them gasping, but like a fever dream the memories were confusing and fleeting-- a blur. Despite that, she had grown used to the walls around her, and it was a good thing Serana's needs had them traveling at night, and that the sky in this part of the world stayed so cloudy. On nights with a clear, starlit sky, or worse, days when the sky was a vast expanse of blue, she felt her pulse quicken with every moment she spent looking up at it, which was difficult to keep herself from doing.

She tried to keep her distress from Serana, but the vampire could hear the thrill in her blood quite well, and Elayn knew she worried. Still she kept to herself, quiet while they rode together down forest roads, fighting herself when the foliage broke to show the sky, free of clouds and daunting.

She and Serana weren't the only ones with keen senses in their company, and Elayn's horse was picking up on its riders distress. Its ears flicked back and forth, it shied to and fro, pulling at its reins, and Elayn cursed as she pulled back only to make the situation worse.

"Elayn?"

Her back went stiff at the soft voice behind her. She willed her hackles not to rise, Serana meant well damn it, but she couldn't help reacting to someone observing her weakness. Even someone she cared for. She bowed her head, shoulders hunching under the strain of it all. "

Elayn?" Serana persisted, nudging her own steed up to stand beside the werewolf. "Are you okay?" She reached out and--

Before she could touch her, Elayn was jerking away, urging her horse onward with a light kick. "I'm fine," she snapped, not looking over her shoulder. "We should keep moving. I smell humans." She sniffed again. "And blood."

* * *

 

The scents turned out to be connected, as Serana and Elayn found when they rounded a bend and discovered the broken, burning remains of a cart. The horses that pulled it were slain, as were the people it carried, and she heard Elayn start growling when she found one of the dead was a child.

"Whatever did this can't get away with it," she said roughly, still not looking at Serana. She was hurt, a little, but her werewolf was right. The injustice was too great to be set aside.

"If it was bandits--" she started to say, only to be cut off when Elayn dropped down from her horse and strode closer to the wreckage, nostrils flared as she sniffed the air.

"I don't think it was bandits," she said, coming to a stop. "I think I smell... Goblins."

"Goblins?" Serana repeated, surprised. "There weren't any goblins around my father's castle. He wiped them out."

"Damn shame he couldn't do it with this lot too," Elayn muttered, but Serana caught it easily, and nodded her agreement.

"Should we bury the dead?"

"Burying them would take too much time." She glanced up at the sky, and Serana wondered if she didn't know she was being so obvious about the nervousness on her face when she did. "We should burn them, then hunt down the bastards that did this."

Her command of elemental magic was shaky compared to her skill in necromantic arts, but Serana set the bodies piled up on the remains of the cart ablaze. The two of them watched the fire for a few moments, before Elayn went sniffing for a scent trail to follow. Serana followed her, leading the horses.

* * *

The trail led them to a cave tuced behind a fallen tree. Elayn saw it before the creatures guarding it saw her, so she was able to stop short in time to signal a warning to Serana, who tied the horses to a low hanging branch and crept over to where Elayn now crouched.

"I see three guarding the front," her werewolf whispered, pointing them out. Serana's eyes were keen, but not well-trained. "If we take them quickly and quietly, we can sneak into the cave without a pack of goblins coming down around our heads."

"Will you change shape?"

Elayn shook her head, and drew her short sword from its scabbard. "Goblins fight with weapons, crude but capable of killing. A wolf wouldn't fare well if she got surrounded."

"A pity," Serana drawled. Elayn looked at her, for the first time in many hours, and saw her eyes were sparkling.

Her lips pulled into a smile, and she darted forward for a quick kiss before slipping through the brush to get closer to the goblins.

Being startled, and stupid by nature, the goblins were easy to dispatch. It was venturing further into the cave that proved challenging. Elayn nearly tripped on a taut line stretched across the path leading down, only saved by Serana's quick movement to grab her by the back of her tunic and pull her back. 

Then, as they went on, they started to hear shouting, that of an angry man giving orders. 

"Go! Go! Put that-- no, not there, there you ignorant little--"

When Elayn's eyes caught torchlight, she tugged Serana to the side, pulling her flush against her torso so they both hid in the shadows as a group of goblins came past bearing large crates. She waited a beat once they were past, then two, before letting Serana go, missing the softness pressed against her as soon as it was gone.

The two of them crept on through the tunnel until they came upon a large chamber, full of goblins hustling to and fro, while a man with a wild black beard and purple robes stood shouting orders at them. He was the one she had heard echoing through the cave. She sniffed the air, and wrinkled her nose at the foulness she could nearly taste on her tongue.

"Warlock," Serana said, moving her lips silently. Elayn nodded.

Only a few months had passed of the two of them traveling together, but it had been enough that they had no need to vocalize a strategy to follow. Elayn would tear down as many as she could, while Serana brought them back to fight their living friends, all the while wielding cold fire that stripped vitality like pine spirits stripped paint. They leapt as one into the fray, and the goblins stood no chance.

At least, not at first. "Intruders!" the warlock howled, spit flying from his mouth. "You will pay for this!"

Elayn rolled her eyes, and barely registered a stinging in her side, until she cut a goblin down and saw the warlock lower a hollow pipe from his mouth with an evil cackle. She looked down, and saw a feathered dart sticking out of the skin just under her ribs.

"Like hell," she spat, knocked a goblin aside, and charged at him. When his head rolled to the floor, his jaw still worked with mad laughter.

Their leader gone, the few remaining goblins fled, leaving Elayn standing surrounded by bodies, spattered in blood. Serana looked cleaner, since she didn't get as close to the fighting. 

A wave of... something hit her as the vampire drew close. She staggered, falling to a knee as she was struck with the sensation that her entire being was about to fall apart. She looked at Serana, her mouth failing to make words, and she reached out--

Only for darkness to well up in her vision and drag her under.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Serana was sitting on the edge of the bed, looked down at her unconscious werewolf, wringing her hands and fretting because she couldn't think of anything else to do. When Elayn had collapsed, she quickly realized there was no way she could haul her to a nearby town, the closest of which was a dozen miles away. Fortunately for the both of them, the cave served as base of operations for a human warlock, who had need for human amenities. She found a room with an expansive feather bed, and in the corner a chest of food and fine wines likely pilfered from corpses of merchants off the road. Once she had Elayn in the bed, and made sure she was breathing, there was nothing to do but wait, so wait she did.

God knew how long she waited before the dryness in her throat made her aware of the fact that she had not fed in too long. Torn, she looked at Elayn's lax face a little longer, before she rose. She would go hunt, and she would not be long.

A couple rabbits later, easily caught in the (admittedly dreary) spring, and she made her way back to the cave. She expected to find Elayn sleeping on her return, but that quickly turned out not to be the case. She barely set one foot in the room when she was spun and moved through the air abruptly, until the floor was at her back. It took her a moment to reorient herself, and only Elayn's familiar scent kept her from responding with violence.

"'Rana?" a voice next to her left ear croaked, and the body above her shifted until wide silver eyes nearly eclipsed with black stared down at her.

She reached up, slowly as to not startle her werewolf, and rested her palm along the curve of Elayn's jaw. Her skin burned even hotter than usual. "It's me," she said softly.

"You were gone," her werewolf said, sounding lost, and buried her face in the join of Serana's neck and shoulder halfway through the sentence. "I don't feel so good,” she murmured, muffled. 

"Let's get you back to the bed," she said, pushing gently at Elayn's chest to urge her along. The werewolf resisted at first, then rolled her weight off of Serana to sprawl on her back.

"I don't feel so good," she repeated, and Serana leaned up on her arm to see Elayn's face twist in discomfort.

She got to her feet and drew Elayn up after her, leading her gently to rest back on the bed. When her werewolf was settled, she brushed a kiss against her-- feverish-- forehead, and frowned. 

“You need to cool down,” Serana told her, and rose to find a cloth. She didn't miss the way Elayn reached for her as she did. 

“‘M I too hot?” 

She husked a laugh as Serana jolted, surprised by this playfulness, and then recovered to fix her with a stern glare. “None of that, you're ill.”

She found a cloth and poured water from a nearby ewer to dampen it, then went back to the bed to lay the cloth across Elayn's brow. The werewolf shivered at the touch of cool water, then sighed. 

“That's better,” she said in a nearly drunken slur. 

Serana sat back down on the edge of the bed and reached to clasp Elayn's hand. “I hope--” she started to say, and then stopped and looked down, thinking better of it. 

“What?” 

She looked up to see silver eyes focused intensely on her, and sighed as she gave in without argument, wanting to ease the furrow above those eyes. “I hope you get better soon.”

The furrow deepened. “Why wouldn't you want to say that?” 

“I don't like to tempt fate,” she admitted. “Especially not with you.” 

Elayn's face melted into a broad, almost lazy smile. “That's sweet. You're so sweet.” 

The heart of the undead might not beat, but Serana could swear her cheeks heated. “Flatterer.” 

The hand she held flipped so it could squeeze hers. “I shouldn't be--” She waved her other hand in front of her face. “--like this too long. Most poison just burns away. Long as it doesn't kill me.” 

“That's good.” She didn't think very hard on the likely fact that if it was something that could kill Elayn, they would likely know it by now. 

“Thirsty.”

Serana went to the ewer and poured some water into a goblet and handed it to her. “Easy, easy,” she cautioned, taking the drink back when Elayn tried to guzzle its contents. “Don't make yourself sick.” 

“‘M fine,” she protested, reaching for it back. 

Setting the glass down so hard that it thunked on the table next to the bed, Serana gave Elayn a sharp look and said firmly, “No, you're not, and I don't want you making things worse for yourself.”

Elayn froze, hand in mid-reach for the goblet, and stared at her with unchecked shock on her face. Seizing the opportunity, Serana went on, saying, “I know we haven't known each other very long, but I know you don't take very good care of yourself. So trust me to, alright?” 

Something warred in the silver eyes locked on hers, until whatever it was broke. Elayn sighed and sagged as she did, shoulders sinking, though her gaze did not drop. “Okay,” she whispered. “Okay.” 

“Get some sleep,” Serana said, pushing her back to the bed. “I'll stand guard.” 

“Okay,” Elayn said again, eyes sliding closed as Serana pressed a gentle kiss against her lips. 

* * *

 

Elayn woke again feeling better than she had. In fact, she felt well enough to run to to Italy and back. She opened her eyes and saw Serana lying next to her, peacefully asleep. Not wanting to wake her, Elayn got up and off the bed, meaning to cross to the door and get some air. 

She did not, however, mean to trip on her own feet and collide with the floor. 

“Elayn?” 

Serana was awake and at her side with astonishing alacrity, but Elayn barely noticed. She was too busy thinking about how ridiculous she must look. She couldn't help it; snickers built in her chest and escaped her lips without her bidding. But when she started laughing, she found she couldn't stop, until she was gasping for air. 

“Elayn? You're starting to scare me.” 

The concern in Serana's voice broke through her mirth, and she rolled over to look up at her vampire, a grin stretching her cheeks. 

“Hey gorgeous,” she said, uncaring of her boldness while she felt so light, and reached up to pull Serana across her chest. 

“Elayn.” This time when Serana said her name she sounded flustered. “You're still burning up.” 

“But I feel great,” she assured her. “Enough to take on a hundred bears!”

Serana's eyes sparkled as she looked down at her, and a smile teased at her lips. “Maybe you should wait a little while and see how you feel before you try.”

“If you say so,” she agreed easily. How could she argue with her vampire? 

“Let's get you back to bed,” Serana said, moving to get up. 

Unwilling to allow that, Elayn held her close and leaned her head up to kiss her until they were both breathless. 

“I'd rather get you in bed,” she said when she pulled back, feeling a thrill in her chest at the sight of Serana's cheeks dusting with red. 

“Once you feel better, I'll remind you.” The words were teasing, but spoken breathlessly they only made her feel smug.

Elayn let herself be drawn back to her feet and led to the bed, but resisted when Serana tried to push her down until her vampire followed her. Nestled against her side, head on her shoulder, Serana's scent filled Elayn's nose as she shut her eyes again. 

 


	3. Chapter 3

Serana slid from sleep, her thoughts fuzzy, with the strangest sensation that the bed was shaking. She opened her eyes to see the back of Elayn's blonde head, which moved back and forth. She pushed herself up with one arm to look at her werewolf, shedding her grogginess in favor of concern.

Elayn's arms were wrapped tight around her torso, which was bent forward. Her temples and brow glistened with sweat, and behind their lids her eyes twitched wildly from side to side.

“Elayn,” Serana whispered, then repeated with greater volume when it drew no response.

Finally she reached for Elayn's shoulder and shook her gently. Her silver eyes flew wide open on a gasp and the top of her arm nearly smacked into Serana's jaw as she bolted upright, arms still tight around herself.

“Alpha-- please--” Anything else was cut off with a harsh, guttural noise in her throat and Serana heard a noise she never expected to her from her werewolf: a whimper.

Unsure of how to help, she leaned against Elayn's side and wrapped her arms around the shaking werewolf. “Shh,” Serana soothed, sliding her hand up and down her arm. “It's okay. You're safe.”

Elayn's skin was burning even hotter than it had before, like the poison had gotten worse somehow, or maybe this was just another stage in its being purged from her body. Either way it had Serana worried, but she didn't want to leave her side long enough to re-dampen the cloth. She whispered nonsense words to try and calm her, rocking them gently back and forth.

When it seemed like she was calmed enough, Serana slid from the bed. When she came back with the cloth, she reached with it to wipe the back of Elayn's neck. Just before she could, cool water dripped from the cloth to the skin below and Elayn jerked away, rolling across the bed to land with a thud on the floor on the other side.

“Elayn!”

In an instant she was around the bed and kneeling by the body curled on the floor. Elayn swiped weakly at the air between them, warning her back, and she was torn as to whether or not she should heed it. Elayn's face was twisted where she could see, jaw knotted with whatever emotion was possessing her now, and all Serana wanted to do was help her, even if she didn't know how.

“Please,” she heard her werewolf. “No more. Alpha-- don't--” Then she let out a sob and her words were lost.

They hadn't talked much about Elayn's past, but Serana knew it wasn't happy. She also knew werewolves lived in packs, and that Elayn, until recently, had chosen a life alone. Something told her this “Alpha” had left scars, emotionally and physically.

She reached out and brushed a hand down Elayn's arm, hoping. “Whatever your demons,” she whispered. “I'm here, to help you fight them. You're okay, my love.”

It wasn't something she'd said before, but the words felt right as they came out, and now more than ever she felt Elayn needed to hear them. They seemed to work; bit by bit Elayn relaxed out of her curled position on the ground. Her breathing even, her heart slowed, and Serana smiled a little as she realized her werewolf was asleep again.

* * *

 

When Elayn's eyes opened for the gods-knew-what-th time, she felt… alright. Still weak, but her blood no longer sang with fever, and she wasn't shaking. She had a vague memory of the last time she'd woken; what had plagued her and what had eased her.

Serana was nowhere to be seen, but her scent was still on the pillow, fresh enough that she couldn't have been gone long. Rather than filling with panic, her chest felt light, knowing all was likely well. Her stomach rumbled, and she knew the poison was gone from her blood.

As she was considering digging around the warlock's room for something to eat, or maybe checking the warlock's corpse to see if it was still good, the door to the chamber opened and through it stepped Serana. Her eyes lit up when she saw Elayn, and her lips curled up in a smile.

“It's good to see you back to yourself,” she said, coming to sit on the bed. She grasped Elayn's hand, and Elayn grasped back. “How do you feel?”

“Hungry,” she admitted with a self-conscious chuckle, and glanced away. “Thank you for taking care of me. I'm… sorry you had to. “

The pressure on her hand increased sharply and she looked up to see golden eyes burning into hers. “Don't ever apologize for my caring about you, Elayn,” she said. “I--”

“I heard what you said,” she said abruptly, unwilling to let nerve get in her way. “While I was-- I care about you. A lot. You know that, right?”

Serana looked surprised, but the expression melted into one of tender fondness. “I know,” she said. “I care about you too.”

Just then, Elayn's belly let out a growl to rival that of the angriest werewolf and the two of them burst into laughter. “Go hunt,” Serana said, leaning forward to kiss her and then said, “We'll talk more later.”

“Of course,” Elayn said, rising to her feet, and found as she walked out of the chamber that it was a talk she looked forward to. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go! I hope yall enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing!

**Author's Note:**

> I think I might dabble more in this universe. Stay tuned!
> 
> Liked this? Go to my Wattpad account for original stuff!
> 
> https://www.wattpad.com/user/Destructionofsanctum


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